What If It Had Been Me?
by Ruby Tristan Snape
Summary: When a young third year Ravenclaw, Kinna, finds the Half Blood Prince's potions book, she fools Slughorn into thinking she's a potions genius! Now she must upkeep the image without the book!Spiked muffins, snotty girls, Snape detentions and curses ensue!
1. The Book

What if it had been me? I thought. What if the copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ Harry had received from Professor Slughorn had fallen into my hands instead? Oh, yes, I knew about that book, and I knew there was something special about it. At lunch, I had watched Harry toy with it and show his red-haired friend its contents. I had even overheard some of the spells it contained along with some of the potion making tips, some of which I was now using, but I never dared whisper the spells. They sounded frightening and Dark, but even though I did not care for them I continued to sit as close to Harry at the Gryffindor table as possible until a strange buzzing filled my ears and I could no longer hear what they were saying.

What if it had been me? I had interesting ways of eavesdropping on people, and even though Harry was completely grateful for the book, after some unspoken incident that involved a Slytherin boy named Draco Malfoy almost dying, or so he bragged, he trusted it a little less. I listened in on the Slytherins as much as I did the Gryffindors, and I learned many things about both of them. Sometimes Padma Patil, who was older than me but was never mean to me, would reprimand me when she caught me eavesdropping, and would suggest I do something fun. But all I wanted was to learn about everyone and everything. That was something fun, but it seems to induce people to regard me as a reporter of sorts. One girl, a certain Hermione Granger, in fact gave me a horribly murderous look at breakfast upon me asking about her previous day. She must hate reporters.

What if it _had_ been me? I was soon to find out.

It was a rainy Tuesday, the day the book finally fell into my hands. Harry had left it behind in his sixth-year potions class. I had the class next, third-year potions. Slughorn greeted me happily as I walked in the door.

"Ah, Kinna! Good to see you again, my accomplished young friend!" I blushed slightly and walked on to my seat. I did so loathe the attention given to me by my new portly Potions master, but I suppose anyone and everyone was better than Snape, the surly, practically evil man who taught last year. He had constantly deducted Ravenclaw's points for me being too "quick to answer" or because my responses were "memorized from the book." Now he taught D.A.D.A, which really was just as bad because his practical work was either wildly difficult or absent and his essays were complicated. And worse than all of these were the punishments, but usually the incompetence of the students to complete the tough assignments and the consequences went hand in hand. I remember clearly the day a Gryffindor boy in my class, Dennis Creevey, shouted (well, more like squeaked) out in class after a particularly long lecture.

"Hey, do you think we're seventh years or something?"

Snape gave him a detention every night for a week.

But all thoughts of Snape and, frankly, everything else, were pushed from my head as I saw it lying there, just under the desk.

_Advanced Potion-Making. _Someone had left it behind, and I hoped madly that it was the old book Harry had been taking orders from. But unfortunately the cover looked brand new, and I was thinking of returning it to Slughorn when it fell open and tiny, cramped writing filled my eyes.

Don't judge a book by its cover…

I flipped through the pages, elation filling me as my classmates all filed in. I was excited, as I had quite an idea of what secrets its pages held. I began skimming over it, enjoying the various amusing tips and hints in the margins, when Professor Slugorn's booming voice ricocheted off the stony dungeon walls and flew into my ears.

"Good day to you, class. Today we will be making a moderate-strength love potion. However!" If anyone had not been paying attention, their heads were now snapped up and they were staring at Slughorn intently.

"This potion is not particularly strong, it can be dangerous to make if done incorrectly and even more so to fool around with. If I see any of you, and I mean _any_ of you, toying with it, especially but not limited to slipping each other the potion, _there shall be serious consequences." _We had Potions with the Gryffindors, so some giggles were heard among us. I even heard a few chortle a good-natured, "He should be an actor." Prominent among those was a squeaky, choked gasp which meant that Dennis Creevey had apparently taken the warning a little too seriously. Slughorn, after this display, looked suddenly positively cheerful, and he told us that the instructions were on page 169 of our Potions books.

I turned to 169 in _Advanced Potion-Making._

It just happened to explain how to make a love potion too, but one called Amortentia that was supposedly immensely strong. It appealed to me because anybody glancing at me would see me making a love potion as well, and no one would suspect anything unless they stared at length into my cauldron. This page was sparse in notes, but a few scribbled extra-messily here and there made me think that maybe the previous owner was not too interested in love potions. However I followed the instructions carefully, and did exactly what the scribbles told me, when they intervened. I'm not really sure what made me want to trust the book, but I did, and the results seemed to be working out well.

First off, the instructions said, "Pour one pound of powdered dragon scales into cauldron at the same time as the ounce of flobberworm juice." However, the previous owner demanded that they be poured exactly seven seconds apart. This was more precise and demanding but seemed crucial, so I was about to do it. Then remembered that Slughorn had said how disastrous a weaker love potion could be if messed with, and shuddered to think of how explosive (maybe even literally) a strong one could be if done incorrectly. However I decided to take that chance. I dumped my powdered dragon scales (which I had in my kit even though the school list had not asked for them,) counted to seven as precisely as I could, then poured in the flobberworm juice. I waited for something horrible to happen, but instead the potion turned a pearly white and began to swirl. I looked at it, pleased with myself, and instinctively turned to see how the others were doing and compare mine to theirs. A girl I was usually good friends with, Janelly Dumonde, had sat next to me and was peering suspiciously at my cauldron.

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" she inquired, stirring her deep blue potion. I was about to reply when her concoction burst into flame in front of my eyes. She started shrieking and batting at it and blowing on it, trying to extinguish the fire. I eyed her rather smugly as Professor Slughorn was forced to rush over (although his rushing was not very rushed at all) and exclaim "_Aguamenti!"_ which quelled the dancing conflagration.

"Are you sure you are?" I asked as Slughorn hurried back to his desk without even noticing my swimming potion. She raised an eyebrow at me and went back to work. I continued to seek guidance from those around me, however I remembered that they were doing something different from me, and turned to my book for advice. I was not surprised to see that it was not on the same page as it had been, due to all that waving and blowing air. Instead it was open to a page about the dangers of potion making, but what really caught my eye was a large scribble that read:

"_Sectumsempra_: For enemies." I liked the word. It rolled off my tongue as I whispered it again and again. I wondered what it did and was curious even though it sounded Dark and was slightly scary. I decided to test it on a Slytherin fifth year later, a particular Daniel (Last name not available) who enjoyed bossing me around when he saw me (He was a prefect.) For now I turned the book back to the Amortentia page and continued reading the instructions.

"After completing Step 1, your potion should be milky white." I panicked. My potion was not milky at all, just shiny. I read a little down and calmed a bit when I read:

"After Step 2, your potion should have a shiny quality to it." I found it interesting that by following the mysterious tips given by the previous owner of this book, I had eliminated the need for, as I learned upon going back over it, twelve minutes of stirring.

After thirty additional minutes of adding ingredients and stirring and adding more and stirring more, instructions dotted here and there with the suggestions of the old owner, I added the final ingredient, rose petals. I watched them flutter to the bottom of my cauldron and land in the pale, shimmery pool of my potion. I was afraid I'd done it wrong as it began to bubble hideously, but then small spirals of steam began rising, twirling in sharp helixes. A strange but delicious fragrance began rising with the steam, something that smelled like lemons and pine and hickory smoke all at once, plus something that smelled like a perfume my mother might have worn once. I smiled as I began to feel inexplicably happy, and though most of it probably came from the powerful love potion I had just concocted, some of it came from knowing that I had done something no other third-year had ever done. I began to stir listlessly and dreamily until Slughorn bellowed out another command. Everyone was in a light stupor from their potions, but none was as strong as mine, I noticed with some muffled pride that might have been stronger had I not been so drowsy…

"Time's _up!_" Heads shot up everywhere, most people yawning happily and grinning, though some looked utterly disappointed. Little Dennis Creevey's potion had spilled all over him and he was crying with such passion I wondered if he had not invented a new tonic to induce depression. Slughorn, with some effort, pulled himself up from his seat and strolled over to the first desk, shared by two Gryffindor girls. One was looking quite pleased, the other positively elated. The Professor gave them five points for Gryffindor each, because it was obvious that they "Tried hard and succeeded… Somewhat." He passed everyone, awarding points for the best, smiling and nodding at even the worst, although not as enthusiastically in that case. I soon learned that the ideal potion was a light pink or purple, smelling of flowers. When Slughorn was at the table nearest mine, Janelly tapped me on the shoulder.

"He'll be really mad at you, I think," she said, looking worried.

"Don't worry, I think I'll be okay…" I grabbed the copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ and dropped it back under the desk where I had found it, and pulled my own Potions book from inside my bag. I placed it on the desk and opened it to page 169 and bent low over it, so as to look as if I was following instructions intently. When Slughorn passed my table, he gave Janelly an encouraging "Very good, nearly as pale as it gets, especially with such setbacks," and then turned to me. His already rather flabby face collapsed into a mess of shock.

"Why- why- Kinna, what instructions were you following?" My head shot up.

"What? Oh- these, Sir." I handed over my own Potions book. He eyed it and shook his head before bending down to my level.

"Kinna. Are you absolutely… _sure_." His bright eyes were wide.

"Of course, Sir," I said, putting as much surprise into my voice as I could. "Why, is there something wrong? The book said to get it as pale as possible, and that it should smell good. Mine does that, doesn't it? So, what's wrong?" If he wanted to play up the actor thing, fine. I could play along.

"You have made Amortentia… The most powerful love potion in the world." He said it softly enough, but the entire class still went quiet and turned their heads in my direction. Janelly shot me a dirty look before burying her face in her hands. Dennis Creevey stopped crying. All eyes were on me.

"Gosh," I said, looking bewildered. "Is- is that _bad_?"

Professor Slughorn's white face immediately flushed and broke into a grin. "Why of _course_ not, my dear Kinna! This is amazing, absolutely amazing. What do you say, class- _Thirty_ points for Ravenclaw!" I smiled too as a few of my friends clapped. I was happy I had done something interesting enough to draw the attention of my classmates and earn my house a fair amount of sapphires in the bottom of their hourglass. I should have noticed how easily this went across with everyone and questioned their brief incredulousness, but I was too pleased with myself to think. Nonetheless, my jubilation was short-lived, as next I had Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Snape. I rushed out quickly when the chimes rang, as not to give Slughorn time to pull me aside. I heard him call out my name behind me, but I ignored him and rushed out, the immense joy I felt slowly being eaten by suspicion and fear. I'd rather have to face Snape than an angry Slughorn, judging by how, I assumed, even the strongest Shield Charm couldn't hold back the massive girth of my Potions professor.


	2. Snape and a Muffin

CH 2 ENJOY!!! :D

As soon as I entered the little room a feeling of gloom overtook me. Professor Snape stood at the front of the room, his arms crossed and his expression menacing.

"You're too early, Ms. Soran," he drawled impatiently when I attempted to put my books down on my desk. "Can't you see no one's entered the room yet? Go wait outside, and five points from Ravenclaw." I turned tail and stalked out, immediately wishing that I had kept the scribbled-on Potions book with me. Perhaps it would have a spell marked, "For Evil Teachers…"

Ten minutes later I reentered the room with Janelly and Dennis behind me, questioning me constantly about how I made such a potion with such instructions. I just grinned at them and motioned at them to shush, for Snape was watching us.

I took my position in the back of the room. No sooner had I set my textbooks down (again) than I was hit by a terrible proclamation.

"Today," simpered Snape in a deadly low voice, "We shall be practicing a defensive hex called the Impediment jinx." There were groans around the room. My brain started spinning with the confusion I usually felt upon hearing Snape talk. "Silence! Now, I know that most of you have heard of, practiced, or even been a victim of, this temporarily paralyzing hex. Judging by the low competence level of this class, I suppose the latter is more common." Heads were hung. I drew mine up straighter, laughing to myself. When it wasn't me being insulted, Snape was pretty funny.

"But today, we will be not only practicing it so that it will be at its strongest and longest-lasting, but we will also be learning to repel it. Do I have a volunteer to show the class what I mean?"

Snape hated me. I'm sure it was uncommon for Snape to hate any Ravenclaw as much as he hated me, as he usually targeted Gryffindors. I knew he would call on me anyway, however, and I was still foolishly emboldened by last period's endeavors, so I raised my hand up high and called out, "You have me!" I watched a greasy grin, very slight but obviously malicious, spread over Snape's papery face.

"Very well, Ms. Soran. Please come to the front of the class." I heard gasps and whispers as I strode to where Snape was waiting.

"I will now perform Impedimenta on you, and you will repel it with a Shield Charm. The incantation is Protego."

I snickered in my head. I knew Snape didn't know how well I knew the Shield Charm. My first Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, had taught us it, and I liked it so much I had practiced constantly since then. I was ready for Snape's hex, why wasn't it coming? I was just waiting here-

"Impedimenta!" Snape shot the hex at me and I stood, stunned, totally unprepared, then at the last second, I regained my wits and drew my wand-

"Protego!" The curse bounced off at the last second as I ducked pitifully underneath my charm. Snape looked amused.

"Well, that was less than capable." No one made a sound. "I shall give you one more try, and maybe I shall warn you this time. Ready, one, two, three-"

"PROTEGO!" My charm flew from my wand, blossoming over me rather like what I imagined a Patronus to be, blowing Snape clear off his feet and sending him stumbling into a wall. I could hear muffled chatter and giggles as Snape staggered to his feet, snarling.

"That was awful, and too soon, but who am I to-"

"Too soon?" I cried, having been rather pleased with my Shield Charm. "How could it have been too soon? Do you just expect us to stand around and wait for the bad guy to jinx us?"

I heard chuckles among my fellows as Snape's upper lip curled into a most menacing snarl. His cold, glittery eyes caught mine and, my boldness sapped, I was sure that I was going to die, but in an amused way, as I am not under any circumstances afraid of my old Potions teacher. Not a bit. I still was laughing in my head, though, thinking how I was going to be killed by my teacher for being smart (I was giddy) but then he just muttered, "Ten points from Ravenclaw for your cheek. Now everyone pair up, I expect practicing until the end of the period. For homework, a ten-inch long essay on whythe Impediment jinxis vital to your list of defenses. Everybody pair up now, if you are smart enough to do even that-"

I quickly grabbed Janelly's hand and dragged her to the front of the room. We shot spells back and forth for an hour, getting better at both casting and protecting every time. It turns out Janelly was excellent at Impedimenta, her spell often beat my shield and I flew backwards, wriggling uselessly against invisible ropes until the spell wore off. One time she even did it without talking, which made Snape, who was walking around supervising everyone, very cross indeed.

"Nonverbal spells are for sixth years," he pointed out most truthfully, but it made Janelly feel abashed all the same. "Stick to my instructions, and you won't appear nearly as slow as you are."

After Snape's class was dinner and then bed, as he was my last class of the day. As I was eating dinner, I saw that Harry had gotten his book back. When he looked over in my direction, I started staring at him until he looked away, shaking his head, then I giggled with Padma. I could tell she thought Harry rather dashing, but I thought he was a bit of a dunderhead. That's why I laughed, but I suppose he thought me infatuated. I didn't care.

As I was lying in my bed that night, Janelly's snoring rattling through my ears, I thought about everything I had learned that day. I thought about the potion I had made. Of course, Slughorn probably thought that I just had an amazing talent for potion making and that I had taken the instructions given and made Amortentia, which was a lie of sorts.

But actually, I reasoned with myself, I must have at least some talent, as I had never done too badly in Potions, not even with Snape, and Amortentia is wildly hard. I confirmed this not only by its appearance in Advanced Potion-Making, but by asking Snape if it was when I saw him at dinner. His answer ("Of course it is, difficult to a high degree. Why, were you thinking of making one?") was not as mean as it should have been, probably because Professor Dumbledore was right there, but still gave me the answer I needed. And I, in all my bigheadedness, convinced myself that I, Kinna Soran, pureblood witch, was good at Potions.

But was I ever wrong.

The next morning I woke up half asleep, and so I stayed for the rest of the day. I actually dozed off for a minute in History of Magic (Goblin rebellions are so boring. Why do we have to learn about them every single year?) Of course Professor Binns didn't notice, he doesn't notice anything. I would have stayed asleep longer but Janelly, who sits next to me, grabbed my arm in fear when a large spider crawled onto her desk. I awoke to needles shooting through my hand, and gave Janelly a horrible look after blowing the spider off the table.

In Divination, Professor Trelawney, who I have instead of Firenze the centaur, predicted Dennis' death again, causing him to nearly faint, but all I could think about was the hypnotic swirling of the mist inside my crystal ball, our lesson for that day. Herbology and even Charms, my favorite subject, were disastrous that day. When it came time for Transfiguration, I accidentally turned a rat into a bigger rat instead of a teacup, and then lost it when it ran out the door. I saw it again on the way to Potions, running away from a group of loudly screaming girls.

Potions was even worse than the way there. First off, when Slughorn announced that we would be making sleeping draughts, he made quite a show of asking me to make one without the book.

"No… I don't really think I want to, thanks…"

"Oh, come on, Kinna! I know you can do it- a potion maker of your expertise…"

"But," I pleaded, wondering what kind of trouble I had gotten myself into by goofing off the day before, "Isn't it dangerous? I mean, I've never made one before, even if I knew how I couldn't really remember, right?"

Slughorn looked at me seriously. "You didn't seem to feel that way when you made Amortentia yesterday from instinct alone." I opened my mouth to protest when I remembered that it had indeed appeared that I had not used instructions to make my potion before, so I just shrugged. If nothing had gone wrong yesterday, why would it go wrong today?

"Okay," I said, raising my eyebrows and watching as the entire class looked up at me. "Well, to make a sleeping draught, first, you… Um…" I could see the students around me taking out their books to check my answers. Janelly happened to take out hers too, and laid it on the table in plain sight of me. "Um… You…" my eyes swept her book, reading the instructions as fast as I could without being noticed by Slughorn, who was no longer standing over my desk in front of me but had moved behind me and was staring into my empty cauldron. "You take a bottle of powdered Flobberworm mucus, and you mix it with some… Mandrake leaves," I stammered nervously, dumping a huge amount of leaves into the cauldron, "and stir for… eightee- no, thirteen minutes, like that, see, counterclockwise." I shot Janelly a questioning look and she gave me a tiny, crooked, half smile half scowl, and pushed her book closer to me. I followed the instructions as best as I could, and by the end of the whole ordeal I had a medium-grade sleeping potion. Slughorn clapped and took a flask of it back to his desk, but I could tell he wasn't as impressed anymore. He didn't see, but I took some of it with me too, bottling in it my own mini vial. The second we were out of the dungeon I ran up and grabbed Janelly's arm.

"How did you know I needed help?" I asked, and Janelly snorted.

"Oh please. Did you really think I didn't know you were cheating off something that day? You can't make a potion for your life, Kinna." And she walked ahead to her next class, which, I realized, was my next class too. "Well… thanks," I called after her, slightly insulted, but of course I, too, knew that I really wasn't that good at Potions. I knew it had been a lie.

When I got back to the common room that night after a long, essay writing class with Snape, I piled my tons of homework on my bed and pulled out my flask of sleeping draught. I wondered what would happen if I drank it. Was it that badly made? Would I die? I decided to experiment by making it slightly less potent with essence of Murtlap and shaking the flask. Then I poured it into a muffin left by the house-elves, made hollow by my finger, and added sugar. I have absolutely no idea why.

I stuck the muffin in my robes for later.

The next morning in History of Magic, I ate the muffin.

Another moronic thing I did that I have absolutely no reason for.

It was a weird sensation, like I had all of a sudden become very sleepy. It was at this moment that I seriously wished I had not experimented with an already unstable concoction. The muffin tasted good, but my head started to spin the second I had downed the entire thing, and suddenly I found that the arm that had so tediously been taking notes could no longer move. I lost feeling slowly all the way down to my feet, which felt like lead, and when I turned my head to see if Janelly noticed anything (because of course, Professor Binns wouldn't) it stuck that way, and then I blacked out. I was vaguely aware of sliding down my chair and into blackness, a dull thud and a girl's scream…


	3. More Books and Girls Like That

When I awoke in a cushy bed in the hospital wing, I was sure I had only been asleep for a few seconds. There was nobody standing around me, just some pretty flowers on the table next to me, and Madame Pomfrey in the corner tending to a boy with large antlers coming out of his head. I opened my eyes and was surprised to not be on the floor of my History of Magic classroom, the drone of my teacher going in the background while Dennis and Janelly stared at me. I wondered how they got me up here so fast. I sat up, feeling completely fine except for a weird feeling that I was really heavy, and looked around the room.

"I am such an idiot," I groaned, causing Madame Pomfrey to look round at me and smile.

"Dear child, what did you do to yourself? Seems you ate a spiked pastry- spiked with a badly made sleeping draught, of course. If it hadn't been for the improper overdose of Mandrake leaves you could have been Petrified! Do you know who gave you that muffin?"

"How do you know I was eating a muffin?" I asked, still rather confused, and slightly insulted.

"Your friend told us, a certain Ms. Dumonde, I believe. She saw you eating it in class. Do you know who made it?"

"Uh, yeah, that was me," I said nervously, my entire face flushing red. "I made it- but I didn't mean to!" I added hastily, seeing the look on Madame Pomfrey's face. "We made sleeping draughts in Potions today- I made mine really badly, I spilled some into a muffin I was carrying around… The flask and the muffin were in the same pocket, see, and the flask broke… Why I ate the muffin anyway was a mystery, really." Madame Pomfrey shot me a funny glance before smiling again and telling me I could go, and the feeling of being made out of rocks would go away eventually.

"So I go back to History of Magic, then?" I asked, and I watched the smile wipe from Madame Pomfrey's face, only to be replaced by a confused look rather, I assumed, like mine.

"History, dear? No, it's Sunday. No one has classes now."

"But how? I was in History of Magic just a second ago, so it can't be Sunday," I pointed out, not understanding at all.

"It's a new day, Ms. Kinna," said Madame Pomfrey cheerily, shrugging. "You came in here on… let's see, Friday. Now it's Sunday. You may go to dinner." And she smiled and walked off.

"I missed almost the entire weekend?" I muttered to myself, still rather puzzled. "I am never eating a muffin again… Whether I've done dangerous things to it or not."

By the time I arrived at dinner all the students were just clearing out and most of the food was gone. Quickly, I grabbed as many of the rolls as I could, trying to prevent them from disappearing. While I was chugging rolls and pumpkin juice, over the in corner I noticed a girl who was sitting all alone. She hadn't left with everyone else and was the only person left in the hall besides me. She was intently reading a book, immersed in its pages, where little moving illustrations danced and twirled. I could see them from where I sat. I still hadn't fully gotten over the fact that it was Sunday, and that I had missed out on the whole weekend. How would I ever get all my homework done? I wondered wistfully if any of my teachers would accept the excuse of "I was in the hospital wing all weekend because I knocked myself out with a muffin." Probably not.

The girl closed her book abruptly and walked out of the room. I watched her leave. Her white-blonde hair was pulled back into an intricate design involving pigtails that I could see now that she had her back to me. I'd seen her around before, but I'd never paid that close attention to her. She was pretty quiet, and I didn't know whose house she was in. As soon as she was out of sight I went back to staring at where she had been a few seconds before. Suddenly my eyes caught something on the floor near her chair and my heart leapt into my throat.

She had left a book behind.

I scrambled up and over to where the gold-bound book lay closed on the floor. I picked it up and looked at the title. It was called _Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them, _written by Newt Scamander.

And then a tiny voice echoed through my head.

_Remember how much trouble picking up random books has gotten you into,_ it said.

_But I love books. I love adventure,_ I argued with it.

_It's just a textbook, anyway. Wouldn't be any fun, but I wouldn't take any chances. Now_ _put it down or go return it to that girl,_ the voice squeaked.

"Fine, I will," I said aloud, glad I was alone in the lunch hall. I walked through the doors, lugging my schoolbag behind me, while searching in the book for identification.

_This book property of Solas Havana_.

I looked up and saw a platinum pigtail whip around the corner. I chased it and turned the corner, running my hand along the stone wall for balance-

-and crashed right into the girl.

"Owww," she exclaimed, her schoolbooks splattering onto the floor. I fell backwards sharply, smashing my head against the corner. The book went skittering out of my hand. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry!" I stammered, trying to get the little popping lights out of my eyes. "You forgot your book- here it is." I scooped it up off of the floor and handed it to her.

"I could have gotten it myself! I'm a very powerful witch and I have the gift of sight! I would have felt its missing presence anyway!"

I snorted despite the pain in my head. "Who told you that, Professor Trelawney?"

"No!" she roared. I fell silent. "It wasn't worth one lousy book! Now everything's ruined- everything! My schoolbag and books are all ruined!"

So much for her being quiet. "Um- if you're so powerful, couldn't you just fix them?"

"No! It wouldn't be the same!" I was aware of some people stopping and staring, but I got the feeling that I wasn't the main object of ridicule right now.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes as she shoved her perfectly fine books into her perfectly fine bag. Now at least I knew what house she was in- only a Slytherin would act like that. The pain in my head subsided and I looked up, hearing a few people giggle and whisper things like "Hey, that girl was only trying to help," and "Wow, what a snob!" as the girl, Solas, stalked away. Slytherins, I thought sarcastically, oh, they're so nice. I watched the girl's robes flutter out behind her as she walked away, and suddenly my amusement turned to sickening disgust.

The girl's robes were blue-trimmed.

She was a Ravenclaw.


	4. Questions and Common Rooms

_Ch 4, peeps! I really think this chapter is the best yet so enjoy! MEEEEEP!_

_How could I not notice having someone like that in my house?_ I wondered on the way back to the common room. Thinking back, I remembered seeing a shiny prefect's badge on her bag's strap. She must be older than me, probably a fifth year. _That's how,_ I reasoned with myself. I really didn't care right then, anyway. I just wanted to go to bed. I strode up to the suit of armor guarding our tower.

"Hello, young Ravenclaw! Would you like to answer a riddle before you turn in, or shall you just give me the password?"

"Niffler Juice."

"No, I'm sorry, the password changed yesterday." I cursed under my breath, remembering my short absence and wondered what else had changed.

"Kneazle Blubber."

"Nope."

"Bobotubers."

"Sorry."

"Lemon Fizzy."

"Try again."

"Draco Dormiens Nunqam Titillandus!"

"Uh- Excuse me?"

I sighed. "Never tickle a sleeping dragon! It's our school's motto!"

The statue looked alarmed at this (well, alarmed for a statue.) "Oh, my. Well, why don't you just try answering a riddle? Then maybe I'll give you the password. You are, after all, a Ravenclaw." I blew out through my clenched teeth.

"Fine. But I'm tired. Just- make it quick, okay?"

The armor nodded. "Hmm, let's see… How about, what while raging inside us keeps us alive, but when released is dangerous to us and everyone else?" I thought for a minute.

"That's a bad one," I said, scowling. "It could be anything."

Just then the Slytherin boy I hated, Daniel, strode up into the chamber. "Well, well, well," he snarled, "What is a little Ravenclaw girl like you doing up at this hour?"

"It's only six," I retorted, trying to think. _It could be anger, but it isn't good for us, doesn't keep us alive…_ "That riddle is really bad," I told the suit of armor.

"Oh well, it's all I've got," it said airily.

"Get into your common room now, or I shall have to write you up," sneered nasty Daniel.

"Shut up," I mumbled, thinking hard. He wouldn't care if I told him I'd been asleep in the hospital all weekend and didn't know the new password.

"What did you say?" he asked, rising an eyebrow.

"I said, shut up!" I repeated, spinning to face him. In seconds I'd be in anyway, and it wouldn't really matter-

My legs buckled underneath me, completely unable to move. I struggled to sit, pulling myself up with my hands, turning to see Daniel's leering face.

"Dear, dear, disobeying a prefect, are we?" His wand was pointed at me. "We'll add that to the list of grievances."

"I don't know my password," I spat, struggling against my invisible ropes. My wand was in my back pocket, if I could just flip over enough to reach it-

"I'm waiting," sang the statue.

I struggled more, twisting my arm into an uncomfortable position. "What the heck are you doing in front of my common room?" I spat, trying to keep him standing there. He grinned nastily. "I can go anywhere I please. My job is to keep the school safe from silly little troublemakers like you."

My hand closed around something solid. I pumped a mental fist in the air and whipped my wand from behind my back, shouting the first thing that came to mind. "_Expelliarmous_!" Daniel's wand flew out of his hand and down the steps with a clatter. I stopped writhing, released from my invisible ropes. I got to my feet, pointing my wand at Daniel. "If you go to retrieve your wand," I warned him in what I hoped was a menacing voice, "I will hit you with something… very bad." _Sectumsempra_ came to mind, but I wasn't sure what would happen and I didn't feel like accidentally killing someone. Daniel laughed nervously. "Silly gir-"

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _I turned from him, not bothering to watch what accompanied the muted thud I heard behind me.

The suit of armor clicked at me as if it had a tongue, but waited patiently for me to come up with the answer. "Okay, okay, here's a hint," it sighed, exasperated, after I has crossed my arms and began tapping my foot. "It's really inside us, well, you, and it's… red."

"Blood," I answered at once. The armor stepped aside for me. "Finally!"

I scowled. "That was stupid."

"Blood is a biohazard," pointed out the suit. I rolled my eyes and proceeded towards the door when I remembered something. I spun, ran back to the frozen Daniel and kicked him down the stairs before running and diving through the hole to our common room, laughing to myself.


End file.
